The New Brunswick government is forecasting a record surplus this fiscal year.
The figure: just over $862 million thanks to an income tax windfall.
Wednesday’s third-quarter update also included word of a $300-million investment fund, which the government is calling the "New Brunswick Advantage Savings Fund."
According to the province, the fund is expected to earn $13 million in annual interest, which will be earmarked for "future projects." The Higgs government didn't say what exactly that means.
"It could be energy, it could be housing, it could be any number of things,” said Ernie Steeves, New Brunswick’s Finance Minister.
“We have lots of needs in the province and certainly we know that it could be going to health, it could be going to social development,” Steeves said.
“There's a number of places where the money could be going, but what we've done is set it aside so for the future we'll always have some interest coming in on this,” he said.
Green Party Leader David Coon called the $300 million fund a “slight of hand.”
"We can't afford to be tying up desperately-needed funds to address huge issues,” said Coon.
“We need to increase social assistance for the most vulnerable. We need two new treatment centers for addictions in the Fredericton and Moncton area. We need to stand up now for urgent care centres attached to our hospitals to solve the ER crunch," he said.
The government says neither the surplus nor the net debt will be affected by the fund.
Rene Legacy, the Liberal’s finance critic, said besides the fund, “there was no new significant investment to address the growing needs of New Brunswickers.”
“No new significant investments to address population growth -- instead what we got is an announcement for a $300-million savings account that is a complete smoke show,” Legacy said.
Revenue for this fiscal year is projected at just over $1 billion higher than budgeted. Expenses are projected to be $240.2 million higher than budgeted -- mainly due to additional expenses in areas like health and post-secondary education.
Steeves said the province is in a “good place.”
“And that's because of our strategic decisions all along is what I would say. Over the last five years we've taken this a long way,” he said.
The province's net debt is projected at $11.6 billion this fiscal year.
